Date A Zero
by Jackie Avocado
Summary: Shinji Takamiya, Shido Itsuka... didn't really matter much to him anymore, not ever since he lost everything, including his family and the girl he loves. All he cared about was getting even with the man who ruined his life, but maybe along the way, he'll find he's not as alone as he believes. Co-Written with Tohka Yatogami!
1. Prologue

**Okay...**

 **So, I've decided to take a shot at a Date A Live fic that isn't a crossover with Bloodborne and or a Self-Insert for once. Basically, my intentions for this story is to sort of _fix_ how overly complicated Date A Live made its story.**

 **And what inspired me to make this fic was the movie Hardcore Henry, you can thank me friends on Discord for showing me that.**

 **Also, thank you Tohka Yatogami for helping me with another one of my crazy stories!**

 **Anyway, have fun.**

 **Prologue**

Elliot Baldwin Woodman pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

Elliot was a man in his fifties but despite his white hair and beard, he didn't truly look the part of an old man. He wore a brown suit, a white dress shirt, and a pair of brown slacks.

He sat in his wheelchair with his secretary Karen Nora Mathers behind him.

"It's one thing after another, isn't it?" Elliot asked rhetorically.

Karen shook her head. "I want to blame him, I really do, but I know this is my sister's fault for this mess."

Elliot and Karen stared at the monitor in front of them. It showed a bird's eye view of a DEM building in the middle of the city, it appeared that the top few stories of the building had been destroyed, but they could see a few people on the now exposed floor of the building.

A young man with long blue hair laid still on the floor, a stab wound through his chest blood pooling beneath him.

A young girl about seventeen years old with a voluptuous figure and bluish-purple hair.

And finally, another young girl with hair that seemed to have the color of a purple-to-white gradient, and a dark sword in her hands.

Elliot and Karen watched as the Wizard, Ellen Mira Mathers fought with the purple haired girl, got the stuffing beaten out of her, then escaped with Sir Isaac Ray Pelham Westcott.

The young man and blue haired girl tried to talk to the girl with purple hair, but she attacked them.

The indigo-haired girl tried to restrain her with some kind of musical power, but it failed. The girl, visibly shocked, fell to her knees.

The purple haired girl sent a wave of dark energy her way, but the young man stood in front of its path, attempting to block it with his arms.

Elliot sighed, his mind took him back to when he made the decision that allowed this mess to get as frustrating as it was right now.

* * *

 _Elliot and a fellow colleague stood across from each other, between them was the body of a young man on an operating table, about seventeen years old. The poor boy's body was riddled with gunshots, not unlike the holes of swiss cheese._

 _"Elliot, don't do this." the other man said to him._

 _"I have to do this, it's the only possible way to fix things." Elliot stated._

 _Elliot held out his hand, it started glowing with a strange blue energy._

 _The other man grabbed his hand and gave him a cold stare._

 _"Elliot, the Association was willing to forgive your involvement in this mess because of how forthcoming you were with how all of this happened. And with what Isaac's planning, we don't have the time to properly put your head on a chopping block. You're on thin ice as it is. Do not do this, Elliot."_

 _Elliot hung his head in melancholy. "...This is the only way."_

 _"Two wrongs don't make a right, Elliot. What if he goes out of control? We both know why the Liches were hunted down to very last. Thanks to you and Isaac's stunt, the Reverse Side is in chaos, the Balance is broken, there's an entirely new dimension, and damn near every supernatural creature is slowly dying off due to the lack of reiryoku in the world. Do you really think we need some kind of undead monster running around too!?"_

 _"I know the risks dammit!" Elliot snapped. "But she… she fell for him."_

 _The man raised an eyebrow. "She? You mean that_ _ **thing**_ _you and Isaac created… fell in love with this random kid?"_

 _Elliot glared at the man for calling the First Spirit a "thing", he sighed and looked at the bullet hole ridden body of the young man._

 _"Yes. She fell in love with him. She saw something in him. Maybe that something is what we need right now."_

 _The man gave Elliot a sorrowful look. "You're grasping at straws, my old friend. This has a huge possibility of ending horribly for everyone. It's not just our world involved anymore. Eurasia looks like a meteor hit it and over 150 million people are dead. Are you prepared for more blood on your hands?"_

 _Elliot's gaze was unwavering. "If it means fixing what I help do, then yes, I am prepared for the consequences."_

 _The man sighed. "By the Allfather, you're still as stubborn as ever. Fine then, I'll get the phylactery set up. We're starting the operation as soon as possible. How long has the body been dead for?"_

 _"Ten hours." Elliot stated._

 _"Good, we have at least fifteen hours left until the soul leaves the body. More than enough time to make a high-quality phylactery." The man then glared at Elliot. "Just remember one thing, Elliot. If this ends up biting us in the ass, the responsibility for this fall solely on you."_

 _Elliot nodded. "I know, thank you, my friend."_

* * *

 **Miku PO** V

What in the world just happened? She should be dead, shouldn't she?

Huh? Why is it so cold? A-Are those pillars of ice?

A cough caught her attention.

Shido was… he was standing right in front of her. D-Did he take the blast for her!?

"Ah! Fuck!" Shido shouted in pain. "One hell of a spicy meatball, you want spaghetti with that too!?"

"Yo, Miku, you alright?" he asked, his voice ragged. "I was able to pull a last-minute trick with Zadkiel, but I don't think it'll work a second time."

Shido turned around the condition of his body made Miku cover her mouth in shock.

His body received a large gash from his right eye all the way to the left side of his hip. He was bleeding profusely, but it wasn't just the wound that caught her attention. It was the cybernetic implants that she could see in his body.

His right eye didn't look human anymore, it was just like a black orb with blue glowing lines and a dot in the middle. She could see hints of an artificial jaw, some of the muscles on his torso weren't even the right color, probably also artificial. She could see some of his exposed ribs, they were surprisingly intact and blue glowing lines could be seen on them.

Shido flinched at the look of shock on her face.

"Sorry you had to see that." He turned back around, now facing Tohka in whatever new form she took. "Don't worry about it, it's my baggage to deal with."

"Shido… what are you?" Miku asked.

He gave an empty laugh, something that sent chills down her spine.

"Apparently, I'm a cyborg who was revived in the same way one would make a Lich."

"...A Lich... c-cyborg?" she didn't understand.

"As I said, don't worry about it, it's my problem anyway."

"W-Why?" She stuttered. "I don't understand. Why did you save me?"

"Tch, after all this, you still don't get it, do you?" He shook his head. "I'm a man of my word, always have been, always will be."

Miku stared at him, shocked.

 _"This… man, Shido Itsuka, keep his word to me. He protected me."_

Miku gently grabbed Shido's arm. "...Shido."

"Sh… Shido..."

Miku and Shido turned to Tohka.

 _"She said his name, is coming back to her senses?"_

"...Shido." Tohka repeated the name again, dark reiryoku emanating from her body in waves.

"...S-Shido." tears fell from her eyes, her face contorted into a mix of rage and sorrow.

"SHIDOOOOOOOOO!" she screamed in sorrow and pain.

The dark reiryoku from her body turned into a dark pillar of energy that was almost suffocating to Miku.

T-This is unreal! How can something this powerful exist!? Oh God, what kind of monster is this!?

"Tch," she heard Shido click his tongue. "Going to be dining in Hell after this one."

He stomped his foot on the ground hard enough to cause a massive amount of cracks in the concrete. Purple light came out of the cracks and a throne made of gold burst from the cracks.

Shido jumped onto the throne and pulled out the sword stuck in it. He cut the throne in half with the sword making it break apart into pieces, the pieces fused with the blade in his hands changing it into a massive single-edged zanbatō-like sword.

"Halvanhelev!" Shido shouted.

Tohka summoned up a dark mist which produced a throne similar to the one Shido summoned, but of a silver color. It too broke apart and fused with her blade to make a massive sword.

"Paverschlev!" Tohka shouted.

The two were now exuding such an amount of reiryoku it was ridiculous.

"You ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight, Tohka?" Shido asked.

 _"How can he say another dumb movie_ _reference_ _in this kind of situation!?"_ Miku ranted in her head.

Tohka charged at them, bringing the full brunt of her dark power onto them mercilessly.

 **Prologue End**


	2. Even Death May Die

**What's up, my spicy bois?**

 **Good to see you all enjoyed the Prologue of this retelling of Date A Live, but inspired by cheesy action movies!**

 **Big thank you to my co-writer Tohka Yatogami for doing the montage of the Spirits getting their crystals for me. You rock, girl!**

 **Not much to say, so have fun!**

* * *

 **Edit: So, I fucked up and forgot to add in the final scene. Don't worry, Tohka smacked me upside the head for that.**

* * *

 **Chapter One: Even Death May Die**

 _Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!_

The sound of gunshots rang in his ears.

Pain filled his body.

He could smell the gun powered, taste the blood in his mouth.

 _Thud!_

"Shinji!"

Huh? Did someone shout his name?

He couldn't feel anything but pain right now. It hurt too much to scream, too much to think. All he could do was lay there as his blood pooled out under him.

As he wheezed on the ground, blood filling his mouth, he saw someone enter his line of sight.

He was a tall man wearing a jet-black suit with a white tie. He had smooth, long, dark-ash blonde whitish hair. His eyes were a sharp as if someone used a knife to cut a slit on his face.

"Shinji, was it?" the man asked rhetorically, he had a smug patronizing smile on his face. "I really must thank you, you know? Without you, I doubt I would have ever pinpointed her location."

His smile grew wider.

"This, all of this was possible because of _you_ , Shinji."

Shinji spat blood, he felt something burning in his heart. Not anger, he'd been angry many times in his life, this was something different.

He glared at the men standing above him.

He hated him. He'd never truly hated anything in his life before, but his man, he _hated_ him with every fiber of his being.

The man smirked. "Aw, don't give me that look, you're going break my heart. You want to know the best part about this?"

The man's gray eyes stared back into Shinji's brown eyes.

"It's watching the light leave your eyes." He stated, his crooked smile grew wider. "It always gives me a certain... _satisfaction_ whenever I see the light leave a person's eyes."

In that moment, the hatred in Shinji would forever be seared into his heart.

He would have given _anything_ in order to kill the man above him with his own two hands.

Shinji tried to reach out to him with his hands to strangle him, but his own body refused to listen to him. He tried to shout and curse the men before him, but his voice refused to work.

He was helpless, useless.

He could do nothing but lay there and die.

" _It doesn't matter how long it takes, a single day or a thousand years, I will kill him!"_ he declared in his mind.

His vision faded to black, the image of that man staring down at him with his crooked grin searing into his mind.

* * *

 **Mio POV**

She stared at Shinji's unmoving body in shock.

"...Sh-Shinji." her voice shook.

This wasn't supposed to happen. This should have never happened!

"Alright, we're done here." The gray-eyed man said as head walked away from Shinji's body. "Keep those specialized Realizers up at all times, as long as she's cut off from the Spirit Dimension, she's a weak as an ordinary human."

"Yes, Sir!" The two Wizards restraining her responded.

She struggled against the two to no avail.

Getting to Shinji. That was the only thing on her mind.

She had to help him!

She had to fix this!

Tears fell from her eyes as the cold reality of the situation finally sunk in.

Shinji was dead, and there was nothing she could do. Absolutely nothing.

"Aw, why the long face, Mio?" The man asked. "This is a time for celebration!"

Even as tears fell from her eyes, Mio glared at the man before her.

How dare he? How dare he take away the person that she loved!?

She hung her head. Even if she wanted to, there was nothing she could do to fight back. Those strange machines had cut her off her the source of her power.

But she had enough reiryoku for one last trick. Just to spite the bastard in front of her.

Mio was encased in a blindingly bright white light.

"What!?" She heard the man shout.

A pulse of energy came from her, causing the two Wizards restraining her to fall to the ground. Then in an instant, she split her power apart into ten pieces and shot all across the world.

Mio began to black out as the lack of reiryoku in her body started to catch up with her.

"That one… was for… Shinji." She said as she fell to the ground, out cold.

* * *

 **Nia POV**

Nia Honjou was a normal girl, with dreams of becoming a famous mangaka.

She had ash-gray hair and turquoise eyes. Since it was night, she was wearing some loose-fitting pajamas.

As Nia was trying to think on the concept for what she was hoping would turn into one of the bestselling manga, then suddenly, a gray light flashed by her window.

"Huh?" Nia blinked, looking that way.

Suddenly, the light smashed through her window, making her gasp as it flew into her. However, she didn't die or anything, instead, finding herself in a nun-like outfit and noticing that she didn't need to see with her glasses anymore.

"...What the?" She wondered.

A book appeared in her hand. It opened up to a random page, forming words as if telling her of a warning she needed to read.

 _To whoever this crystal finds and receives its power, I implore you to listen to everything here, for it's the only thing I can do to prevent the end of everything._

 _My name is Mio Takamiya, a being that was born by the power that created the First Spacequake... it wasn't natural. Horrible people created me, wanted to use me, but I ran away even though I understand so little at my birth. I failed to run forever, and he learned to counter my knowledge and strength as I watched him take my loved one away._

 _However, I gave him one last middle finger to prevent his full success and made the Sephira Crystals that are fractions of my power. There are nine others like you and me, but they have yet to exist as the Crystals have yet to find their chosen vessels._

 _But, it won't be long before he realizes what I've done, and hunts you all down. You can only have your power removed by death, as this power has been intertwined with your own heart and soul. Do not fret, you are strong now, even if not invincible. You don't need to win, just survive and keep this power away from his hands. Do not let Westcott and the DEM take this power._

 _I will likely be a prisoner, as I know he needs me, therefore... you, the Second Spirit to exist, even if you choose to stay alone or help the other Spirits that come, you are the one I entrust with this knowledge. Your powers will reveal themselves shortly after you read this message fully, so all I have left to say?_

 _Please, don't... let Shinji's death be in vain... keep Humanity from... becoming his prey._

Nia stared that the message rereading it a few more times over as the knowledge of her own powers began to flood her mind.

As the situation finally dawned on her, she gave a long sigh.

"This better not end up being some Puella Magi Madoka Magica bullshit."

* * *

 **28 years until revival.**

A pair of girls were leaving a private school for those in their high school years, one having maroon hair in three braids, while the other had black hair in low twin tails.

"Sawa, didn't you recently find a cat that you took home with you?" The black-haired girl asked.

"Yeah, his name's Chestnut. Do you want to come see him? He's just the cutest!" Sawa replied.

They were walking through an empty area when Sawa's friend intended to reply to her, only for a black glow to catch their attention and fall right onto the twin-tailed girl.

"Kurumi!" Sawa screamed.

Kneeling by her friend, she got up looking perfectly fine as she held her left eye. After she moved it... Sawa's eye widened, shaking as if she saw a ghost.

"What's wrong?" Kurumi asked.

Sawa was too speechless to point out the gold clock that was now her friend's left eye.

 **21** **years until revival.**

Through the heavy rain, a blue-haired girl walked home. Her right eye was swollen black. She was being bullied at school again. The girl stared at the rabbit puppet in her hand hopefully.

She sighed, knowing it couldn't talk and she couldn't make it feel like it was talking to her. The girl didn't have anyone to talk to about her problems. No one would give her the time of day.

"If only I had a hero to save me..." She said softly.

Right at that moment, a blue crystal flew at her, making her look up as it struck her through the puppet's right eye and knocked her to the ground, causing a spark of energy to surge around the puppet.

"Ow..." She whimpered.

"Hey, are you OK? Tell me who bullied you!"

The girl looked up, suddenly seeing the puppet move, though now missing part of where its right eye used to be.

"W-what?" She breathed.

 **18** **years until revival.**

On a beach in the Caribbean, a pair of twins were seen pulling against a coconut both were trying to take for themselves.

"It's mine! The soul of Kama Sutra claims it as such!" The twin with a braid in a bun grunted.

"Anger. You are wrong, this coconut belongs to me, sister." The twin with a braid falling straight down retorted.

Both of them kept pulling, and the bun braided twin pulled harder than expected, causing both to fall on top of each other, right as an orange crystal flew at them and then crashed down, causing both of them to scream as they felt some strange shock circulate between them.

 **12 years until revival.**

A girl with jade hair was seen shivering in a trash pile, barely able to find any warmth in the filth scattered among her.

"Stupid pretty woman... stupid smart people... stupid people reacting to it all..." She said with spite, sniffling a bit.

If she didn't find a way to keep warm sometime soon, then god knows how she'd get through the winter.

As she closed her eyes, a green glow dropped from above, suddenly hitting her as the trash flew everywhere. Once she got back up, the sight of trash vanished as she saw a land straight out of The Nightmare Before Christmas.

"What is..." She wondered.

Suddenly holding out her hand, she saw it was longer, and it was now clean and silky smooth. Freezing for a moment, she looked around until she saw her reflection, and seeing what had happened to her.

She looked like a gorgeous voluptuous woman in a flashy witch outfit.  
"I am..." She said, before smiling.

"I am... beautiful!" She exclaimed.

 **9 years until revival.**

A girl with incredibly long blonde hair was sitting in her room, grumbling to herself as she let certain thoughts enter her mind.

"Muku's sister is her family, she doesn't need others... she has Muku." The girl said to herself, her eyes dilated as she repeated it.

A yellow light neared her window, her eyes opened wide in shock as she noticed the light head speedily towards her. The light crashed into her and she was sent flying towards her bed.

"What has... thou gal to strike upon Muku's form?" She asked, soon blacking out.

 **2 months until revival**

A girl with indigo hair was shown crying as she stood before a mirror, wearing a simple nightgown as she held up a knife, looking at her reflection one last time, she gave a silent breath before aiming it towards her.

"..." She silently closed her eyes one last time.

Before she could do the deed, something flew through her window, suddenly hitting her chest as the knife flew out of her hands on impact and stabbed into the mirror. She hit the ground, making a sound of pain... which made her eyes widen.

"Did I just..." She asked herself.

Gasping as she covered her mouth, she looked to feel her throat and then gave off a slight hum.

"My voice..." She breathed, crying as she realized what she heard.

 **Revival**

" _Huh, what's going on?"_ Shinji thought as his vision came back to him.

His sight was blurry, but for some reason, everything around him was tinted blue.

He tried moving his arm, it was a bit of a struggle, he felt like his arm was moving through some very thick liquid. He moved his other arm and he still had to struggle to move it as well. But that confirmed it, he was submerged in some kind of liquid.

" _But how am I able to breathe?"_

Oh, there was an oxygen mask on his face. Well, that makes sense.

How in the world did he get here? Just what happened?

Suddenly, the blue, transparent liquid began the drain from where ever he was. Now he could move his arms easily without the liquid getting in his way.

From the looks of it, he was in some kind of pod. Healing pod probably. He'd seen enough dumb sci-fi movies to make a somewhat accurate assumption.

The door to the pod began to slowly open up as a man in a wheelchair, seemingly in his fifties rolled up in front of him, being pushed by a woman with pale, short, Nordic-blonde hair, wearing a formal suit with a small necklace.

He knew that man, he met him just before… just before… he… died.

Oh, that's right, he's supposed to be dead.

"Shinji Takamiya, my name is Elliot Baldwin Woodman, can you hear me?" the man asked.

"Y-Yes, I can hear you." He answered. "Um, Sir, can you please tell me what's going on here?"

The man gave him a small smile. "Ah, yes, you must be terribly confused. But please, bear with me for a few minutes, we need to make sure you're completely functional first."

"...Okay then.".

It was probably best just to play along for now. The faster he got this over with, the faster he got some answers.

"Try walking, though take your time, you've been in there for quite a while." the man instructed.

Shinji nodded and slowly began walking forward, stumbling a few times before he fully regained his balance.

"Good," Elliot commented. "Now, I'm going to bring up three differently colored squares, I want you to tell me what colors each of them are, okay?"

Shinji nodded.

Elliot snapped his fingers and what appeared to be a hologram of three different squares appeared right above them.

" _Holograms, are you shitting me right now!?"_ Shinji yelled in his head.

Shinji pointed at each square calling out their respective colors. "Red, yellow, and blue."

Elliot grinned. "Fantastic, your eyes are working perfectly, and you have no problem with muscle control. Alright then, follow us, you probably want to shower that blue slime off, that and get some clothes on."

Get some clothes? What did he…?

Shinji looked down.

" _Oh, no wonder I felt a draft."_ he thought.

* * *

After taking a nice hot shower, he put on the clothes provided for him, a pair of boxers and some black sweatpants.

He took a look at himself in the mirror.

"Did I grow taller?" he asked himself.

It was true, it did seem like a gained a few inches in height. His hair had grown out a lot too, it reached his lower back and some of his forelocks past his lips.

"And I'm pretty sure I wasn't this muscular before."

Shinji didn't know how long he was out, but whatever happened must have given his body one hell of a workout. Muscle definition like this didn't come without quite a bit of hard work after all.

He made his way to the room Elliot told him to go to after he cleaned up. He opened the door, finding Elliot sitting behind a table with Karen standing behind him.

"Please, Shinji, take a seat," Elliot said. "You must be famished, my friend. Food will get here in a little while, but I'm sure you must have many questions. Please, ask away."

Shinji took a seat across from Elliot.

"Where's Mio and Mana?" That was the question that took priority over everything else.

Elliot sighed. "Oh boy, I was hoping to save that one for last. Mio has been in DEM's custody ever since you've been… out of commission."

Not a word was spoken after that, not even a sound was made.

Shinji's calm fury was enough to send everyone a clear message. His brown eyes narrowing ever so slightly was enough to make Elliot sweat slightly.

Shinji took a deep breath. "And my sister?"

"While we don't officially know, based on how Isaac - the man that killed you - operates, he likely had her killed after your death. He's the kind of man to get rid of things that have no use to him. He's also a very thorough man, your was house burnt down along with your parents in it. I'm sorry for your loss, Shinji."

Shinji slumped down in his chair, all sense of rage gone as despair seeped in.

"Mom, Dad, Mana, and... even Mio." Tears fell from his eyes as his shoulders began to tremble.

Elliot gazed at Shinji with a melancholy expression. "No one your age should have gone through that, my friend."

Elliot and Karen stayed silent as the boy grieved.

After a few minutes, Shinji regained his composure.

"Okay, how am I alive right now?" Shinji what he seemed to be the next most obvious question.

"Magic and cybernetics." Elliot said bluntly.

Shinji blinked. "Ah… come again?"

"Magic and cybernetics. Yes, I know it's hard to believe, but that's how your life was saved. A combination of magic and cybernetics kept your soul tied to the living world, as we reconstructed your body and improved it."

"O-Okay then, before we move onto _anything_ else, how long have I been…"

"Dead?" Elliot finished bluntly.

"Yes, that."

"Well, you've been dead for 28 years."

Shinji felt a pit in his stomach. "Jesus Christ… 28 years. T-That can't be right!"

"I know it's a very difficult thing to come to terms with Shinji, but I swear to you, this is the truth. The reason is that it took _a lot_ of money to bring you back. Funds we had to build up over the years. New experimental technology along with magic and science working together in ways that have never been done before. It takes a lot of money and time to do something like we did for you, over seven billion US dollars and 28 years."

Shinji ran a hand through his long hair. "...28 years."

"Now, Shinji, explaining the cybernetic changes and enhancements to your body would be rather difficult. So, it would be better to show you." He snapped his fingers. "Chest open!

Suddenly, Shinji's chest cavity opened up almost like a flower blooming. Flesh and bone were fused with cold hard steel, blood vessels could be seen, muscle fibers fused with what looked like gray, artificial muscle was seen. Strings of flesh connected to his ribs were stretched out. Lines like those of a circuit board glowed blue on the interior of his chest, and in the middle was a glowing blue sphere.

Shinji looked at his now open chest cavity in mortification.

"Thank you, Sir, I don't think I needed a good night's sleep ever again."

"Technically, you don't need one. Not anymore that is."

Shinji looked at Elliot with that fire in his eyes from before.

"Could I still sleep if I wanted to?"

"Er… yes…"

"Good. I was ready to kill you there. Ah, it's a good thing to know I can still sleep in and give no fucks. Being awake is way too expensive."

Elliot smiled at the more lighthearted change of this discussion.

"Now, Shinji, would you kindly remove the orb from your chest. Firmly grasp in your hand and give it a good old tug."

Shinji stared at his still open chest cavity.

"Uh… okay then."

He poked at the orb in his chest a few times before getting a firm grasp on it and giving it a light tug.

 _Pop!_

The moment the orb was removed, Shinji felt a lot weaker, as if he was sick or had stayed up a full twenty-four hours without any sleep.

Shinji took a good look at the orb.

It was no longer blue, well, not completely. The orb was pitch black with countless dots of various shapes and sizes swirling together, white in the center, but faded into a pale blue as the swirl moved outward.

It looked more like a universe was in his hands rather than what he assumed to be a sort of battery. Damn thing was hella pretty though.

"Is this some kind of quantum energy or something?" Shinji asked, still feeling rather woozy.

Elliot's glasses gleamed. "That's your soul."

Shinji blinked. "...Come again?"

"More specifically, a phylactery."

The young man's face grew increasingly mortified. "What am I!? Some kind of Lich!?"

Elliot let out a relieved sigh. "Fantastic, you're already familiar with the terms."

Shinji could swear he saw a ghost of a smile on Karen's face at his mortification.

"Well, to further clarify, Shinji, you're not exactly a Lich. Your soul was just put into a high-quality phylactery in order to make sure your soul didn't leave the mortal plane before we could finish reconstructing you. You see, the human soul only stays attached to the body for twenty-four hours after death."

"Ah, I see." Shinji stared at his very own soul intently. "There is no way my soul is this pretty. I was expecting dirt, maybe some green smoke, not the damn universe at my fingertips."

Elliot gave an amused laugh.

"Ah, what a funny man you are, Shinji. It would be best if you reinsert your phylactery back into your chest. Always keep in there at all times, it is your power source. While it may be linked to your body and will keep supplying you with energy even when removed, the farther you are away from it, the weaker you get, understand."

Shinji nodded. "You got it."

He placed the orb back into the slot in his chest and marveled as his opened chest came back together like nothing ever happened. Not even the smallest line could be seen, almost like he didn't become something out of John Carpenter's The Thing.

After a few seconds, the wooziness he went washed away and felt as good as always.

"Do you have any further questions?"

"Why?" Shinji asked right away.

Elliot raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Why me of all people?" Shinji's eyebrows furrowed. "You turn me into the Seven Billion Dollar Man, and for what? I have no family anymore. There's nothing special about me. I'm a fucking _high_ _school student_ , the fuck do you expect from me?"

Elliot looked Shinji dead in the eyes. "When I first made the choice to bring you back from the dead, it was because of _one_ reason. Because Mio saw something special in you."

Shinji blinked. "Because of Mio?"

"She chose to love you." Elliot stated. "Out of everyone in the whole world, she loves _you_. She saw something special in you, and I believe that is what we need right now."

Shinji stared at Elliot for a few seconds.

"You're grasping at straws here, aren't you?" the cyborg asked.

Elliot snorted. "An old friend told me the same exact thing."

"Elliot, what exactly _is_ Mio anyway?"

The old man sighed. "28 years ago, Isaac, Ellen - Karen's sister -, and I did something rather brash. We created a spell we called the Spirit Formula. What it did was take all of the reiryoku in the world and gather it into one very specific location. The Spirit Formula resulted in the Eurasia Sky Disaster and the birth of Mio."

"Okay… I understood most of that, but it didn't really answer my question."

"Mio is what we now refer to as a Spirit, but honestly, it would more accurate to refer to her as a god."

"...A god." Shinji repeated in shock. "Alright, from a scale of 'Blowing up a city with ease' to 'Rearrange the stars themselves' how powerful is she?"

Elliot gave Shinji a wry smile. "A mythology's Creator Deity turned into a waifu."

Shinji's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "...Holy guacamole."

"Isaac was able to use some kind of new technology to cut Mio off from the dimension created due to the Spirit Formula-"

"It created another dimension too!?" Shinji yelled.

"We don't know too much about it, don't ask."

"...Christ." Shinji breathed out.

"As for what I expect from you," Elliot's eyes became cold. "I expect you to become a killing machine."

Shinji looked at Elliot in pure shock. "I… w-what!?"

"Shinji, I can see it in your eyes. The complete and utter contempt you feel your Isaac, it's written all over your face."

His words were blut, but none the less true.

Shinji wanted nothing more than to wring Isaac's neck with his very own hands.

"I brought you back to _kill_ him, Shinji." Elliot stated. "Who else better to do the job than Mio's wronged lover?"

Shinji looked a little uncertain. "But… isn't a 'killing machine' a _bit_ of an exaggeration for the death of one man?"

Elliot's eyes bared into Shinji's.

"Son, there are going to be _many_ people that will try to stop you. People that are sick and twisted just like Isaac. People just doing their jobs. A lot of people be getting in your way, Shinji, and right now you're going to have to decide if you're willing to bear the blood on your hands when everything is said and done."

The old man placed a pistol and magazine on the table and slid them over to Shinji.

"And you're going to have to make that choice now, Shinji." Elliot said. "Now, you can lay down there and swallow the blood in your mouth, or you can get back up, spit it out, and spill there's."

Shinji stared at the pistol.

Could he really do this? Could he truly bring himself to cut down everyone in his way in order to get even with the man who ruined his life?

An image flashed through Shinji's mind, that man, Isaac, staring down at him. His twisted grin mocking Shinji as the life faded from him.

Pure hatred boiled from the bottom of Shinji's heart.

That man, Isaac. He took away his mother and father. He took away his sister, Mana. He took away the love of his life, Mio.

With unnatural calmness, Shinji took the pistol and inspected the chamber.

No bullet.

He slid the magazine in and put the slider in place.

Elliot smirked, that alone gave him the answer he wanted. "Good man."

Shinji looked Elliot right in the eyes. The tranquil fury in him burning like an inferno.

"Where do I start?"

* * *

Sir Isaac Ray Pelham Westcott walked down the hall of a building that only he and a select few people he could trust, and or get rid of easily, knew of. He wouldn't risk anyone he didn't have the full loyalty of knowing this location.

He reached the only door in the entire facility.

Codes, fingerprints, eye scanners, blood tests. Hell, the building could probably survive a full-on nuclear assault.

But honestly, Isaac didn't think he had enough security for this place considering how sensitive this place was.

The door opened and he stepped in, he was greeted with the sight of a futuristic observation room. The subject of their observation being a woman with pale-blue hair, seemingly in her early twenties.

The woman was suspended in the air by odd wires wrapped around her limbs and torso, it seemed as if the wires were drawing out some kind of energy from her.

"Ah, Ike, I wasn't expecting you." came the familiar voice of his secretary, Ellen Mira Mathers.

Ellen was a beautiful young woman with light Nordic blonde hair, purple-colored eyes, pale skin, and a slender body. As usual, she wore a formal business suit, a tablet in her hands as she looked over energy readings.

"I decided to make a surprise visit." Isaac smirked. "Has the research department come up with anything new yet?"

Ellen smiled very much pleased. "I was about to contact you about that. But yes, research into Deus's particular reiryoku is progressing even faster than we predicted. We're close to another breakthrough."

Isaac raised an eyebrow, looking intently at Ellen's tablet. The energy readings were a bit... off.

"What's with those readings?" he asked. "Equipment failure?"

Ellen shook her head. "No, I've run diagnostics and triple checked everything. Not a single piece out of place. Probably a glitch of some kind. I'll have software checks done as soon as possi-"

"Hehe...heheheheHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The blinked owlishly and turned to see the woman wrapped in power sucking wires laugh as if Christmas had come early. Tears of joy streamed down her face as she continued to laugh.

"And what has you in such a joyous mood, Deus?" Isaac asked.

Mio's laughter stopped and her hair shadowed her eyes.

She smiled as her tears continued to fall. "Something you'd never understand."

 **Chapter End**


End file.
